


11 letters, oh they come so easy

by deanwinchesterissaved



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Watcher Entertainment
Genre: M/M, Multi, Pre-Poly, accidental confessions, idiots to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:27:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23340940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deanwinchesterissaved/pseuds/deanwinchesterissaved
Summary: Under the pressure of work and sleepless nights and the howling winds blowing through the places they’ve been, Shane’s always been pretty good at keeping that brain to mouth filter in place.Well, there was that one time, but we don’t talk about that.
Relationships: Ryan Bergara & Shane Madej, Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej, Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej/Sara Rubin
Comments: 10
Kudos: 97
Collections: Shyan Week 2020





	11 letters, oh they come so easy

**Author's Note:**

> Shyan week 2020 day 2 prompt: partners, here we go!  
> Inspiration from a lovely anon suggestion of sleepy accidental confessions :')

With how long and how closely they’ve been working together, the two of them have said their fair share of strange things to each other, and even under the pressure of work and sleepless nights and the howling winds blowing through the places they’ve been, Shane’s been pretty good at keeping that brain to mouth filter in place. 

Well, there was that one time, but we don’t talk about that. 

The problem is that  _ one time _ is changing some things. Small things really, but they stick out to Shane with neon signs. 

“Hey man, still up for movie night today?” Shane asks, and Ryan turns to him with tired eyes that light up slightly at the words. 

“Yeah definitely,” But there’s something in Ryan’s posture, making the affirmation that much less convincing. “I uh, can bring the popcorn.”

“Look I know we’ve been working non-stop this week, and you need your time to unwind, it’ll be fine-”

“No no,” Ryan rushes, grinning and looking almost shy when Shane stops, “I still want to, don’t worry big guy. I’ve still got a bet to win.”

“You’re that confident huh?” Shane leans back in his chair, the Buzzfeed office bustles around them, the sound of laptop keys smattering in the background. 

“You bet I am.” And the awkwardness is gone. 

“Oh I’m betting on me here, I don’t know if you understand how this competition works Ry.” Shane teases, getting a gentle punch in the shoulder. “Ow.” He speaks the sound, and gets another punch for his trouble. God Ryan’s frat roots really show sometimes. 

“Police this is abuse!” Shane mock cries, twisting away until the back of his chair is between them, peeking out the side at Ryan, who’s wheezing like a champ. 

“You’re insufferable.” Ryan chokes out between gasps of breath. 

“Oh shut up, you love it.” Shane quips back, and suddenly there’s that shift in the air between them again. Ryan’s looking at him, smile still hanging onto his lips but it’s frozen in place, he searches Shane’s face like’s looking for something. Maybe Shane knows what he’s looking for, but no, it’s definitely not that. 

No. Not from the Ryan S. Bergara, no sir. 

Shane clears his throat, and he feels Ryan’s gaze on him as he turns back to his laptop, “Let’s get this last bit done and maybe we can leave early, get some ‘za along the way?”

“Yeah sure.” 

Shane feels it every time Ryan looks over that afternoon. 

By the time they've settled on the couch, the sunset’s throwing a red-orange glow in through the small balcony and there are bowls of fresh popcorn around them, they’ve slipped back into their comfortable banter. 

There’s more than a few stray popcorn kernels on the floor, but Shane never claimed to be a good loser. Blows were exchanged, that’s all he’s going to say to the police and the investigation. Obi never fancies the popcorn anyway. 

“So,” Ryan plops his feet in Shane’s lap, leaning back to pull a bowl onto his stomach for maximum popcorn throwing accuracy and ammunition supply, leaving Shane to scramble to rescue his own bowl. They’re both grinning wide, “The Bergara recipe holds true huh?”

“Okay fine, you win this one.” Shane pouts, and Ryan lets out one of his bright open-mouthed laughs, and something in Shane’s chest tightens. 

“This one? You want a rematch?”

There are only a few lights on in the apartment, mood lights Sara had picked out when they had first moved in together. She’s out for the night, leaving Shane with a knowing look and a reminder to text her if anything happens, Shane doesn’t quite know why, but he had agreed. 

It’s just a normal movie night, but there had been traces of worry in her eyes. 

Shane feels like an extra in a movie, the plot entirely out of his control and he’s not getting the hints, and someone had just taken his script.

He takes a sip of his beer and watches Ryan put on one of the Hitchcock CDs from his collection, his fingers dancing across the remote, the muscles in his arms flexing slightly. 

Shane’s comfortable right here on the couch, with the lights down low and Ryan beside him, Obi occasionally brushing up against his legs. He’s had enough alcohol to feel the warm buzz at the back of his head, but the brain-to-mouth filter is still in place, definitely. He takes another sip from the cool bottle.

He wishes Sara could have stayed, but she had insisted on giving them space to ‘talk’, whatever that meant. 

Shane had told her of course, when  _ that time _ had happened, and Sara had looked at him with a soft look that he couldn’t quite decipher, but her warm presence at his side that night had steered him away from the panic. 

It’s such a small thing compared to everything going on in the world. Just four little words said at around 4 am in the morning on the dusty floor of an abandoned ghostless building. Four syllables that carried a world of weight.

_ Just talk about it, _ Sara had said. And Shane will not, he  _ refuses- _ -

“Shane, you okay?” Ryan looks over with a small smile, and he’s got a hand trailing down to idly scratch at Obi’s ears, the little traitor purring like an engine. 

“Was I weird?” Shane blurts out. Out the window the filter goes. He wonders idly if doctors have a treatment for this particular issue. 

Yeah, it’s called prohibition, dipshit. His mind supplies. Shane has to admit its got a point. 

“I mean you are weird, generally, yeah.” Ryan offers, his smile dropping a bit, “Why?”

Here goes nothing, Shane thinks, oh he’s going to murder himself tomorrow, if he can remember any of it after the copious amount of hard liquor he’s definitely going to have to make use of later. 

“On the overnight shoot, when I said, you know,” Ryan’s eyes widen, and Shane can’t bring himself to finish, twisting his hands in his lap a little helplessly. Why is it so hard so say now? 

But Ryan understands, of course he does, so Shane fixes his eyes on the sofa cushion behind Ryan and braces himself. He can feel the hesitation in the room like a physical thing. 

“Did you mean it?” There’s a tremble in Ryan’s voice. 

“Yeah.” Shane breaths, “Yeah I did. Did you?”

Because Ryan had said it first. 

He’d said it gently into the darkness of the cold room, like he was telling it a secret. He’d said it facing Shane, the both of them tucked into their sleeping bags for the night, when he had thought Shane was already asleep. 

_ I love you.  _

And Shane had said it back. 

_ I love you too.  _

It had come so easily to him, halfway into his drift into the calm of sleep. When his brain had caught on to what he had done, and who he’d done it to, Shane was the one losing sleep that night. 

He had thought at first that it had just slipped out on instinct, he’s so used to saying to it Sara day in and day out, so used to saying it to the most important people in his life that it was just an accident, a very unfortunate accident that he did not have the right to cause, not when Ryan was on the line. 

But Shane’s spent a lot of time in the last few days thinking about it. He risks a glance at Ryan, the other man’s head is bowed, and he takes in a sharp breath and meets Shane’s gaze. 

It wasn’t an accident. 

“I meant it.” Ryan’s voice is clear, and his eyes have a kind of fire in them, almost accusing. “But you--Sara, does she know?”

Shane lets out a wry chuckle, “She’s the only one that has been keeping me sane this whole time.” he admits, and Ryan breathes out a sigh. 

“Oh thank-good, that’s good.” Ryan’s smiling at him again, and Shane’s not quite sure what to do for a while, but Ryan helps him out, “Can you, uh, say it again?”

It’s Shane’s turn to look down, his face heating up under Ryan’s gaze. He plays dumb, because he is just that stupid isn’t he, “What?” 

“You know what.” The playful tone’s back in Ryan’s voice, and he gives Shane’s stomach a nudge with a toe.

“I love you.” Shane half whispers, but he knows Ryan can read the words off his lips. He savors the syllables, fully awake this time, rolling them out. With everything they’ve been through, the bond and rapport they had build over the years of working as partners on the random spatter of Buzzfeed videos, then unsolved and now their very own fucking company, it seems like the next reasonable extension. “I love you.” He says again, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. 

It feels  _ right.  _

Ryan’s answering grin is as bright as the sun. 

“I love you too.”

Sara’s going to be so proud of them. 

**Author's Note:**

> Come chat and poke around my [ Tumblr ](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/deathfrisbeeinthetardis) if you like :D


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